West Fork Waste Leak

WEST FORK, Ark. -- In Northwest Arkansas, the state's department of environmental quality is keeping a close eye on the city of West Fork and its waste treatment plant.

Recently, waste from the West Fork sewage facility leaked into the White River. Now, administrators say they're doing something to fix the problem.

Steve Winkler has lived in Northwest Arkansas town for over 10 years.

"It's been an ongoing problem in West Fork with the lack of maintenance on the sewer system and the water system both. This is an embarrassment to the citizen's of West Fork. We don't want to be seen as the ones dumping our sewage in the river," said Winkler. "It's not something that just happened two weeks ago. This is a long period of neglect."

Winkler said this isn't just about a pipe leak.

"We need to look at the leadership here," said Winkler. "It's an ongoing problem trying to figure out who is responsible for this."

West Fork utilities Superintendent Michael Bartholomew said his crews are doing all they can to resolve the issue. Bartholomew said his team has temporarily fixed the leak inside the facility, but now they have to focus on the pipe system.

"We're going to make these repairs as soon as it's evident where the problems are that we can identify. Some of these lines are 15-16 feet deep, so it's not something you can visually look at," said Bartholomew.

"They just told us to take care of it, stop it and that's what we're making every effort to do," said Bartholomew.

The city and its residents hope to put a stop to this waste worry very soon. According to The Washington County Prosecuting Attorney's office is also investigating these complaints. According to the office, if evidence of criminal activity is found, there could be arrest warrants issued in this case.

(story contributed by KNWA, Fayetteville)

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